I forget the best part for distance racers. Well forgot to mention it as it is implemented in NMBR.

And that is that no RC will ever have to face the problem of a crew entlisting themselfs without a spinnaker in the last possible moment when it has become clear that the distance race is going to be an all upwind beat while the others are required to carry their spi hit.

The NMBR system, after punching in the course parameters, impacts the spi hit only on the portion of downwind work in the race. If there is none then there is no spi hit for the spi boats as well. So when using NMBR in this setup every crew can entlist in any way they like and luck of having favoured conditions will not lead to unfair ratings.

It is difficult to sum up all advantages of NMBR in a clear overview as there are a considerable number of them. Best way to look at it is like this. NMBR is mildly more accurate than its alternatives and noticeably more accurate when looking at rear boat or boats with extreme ratios like the A-cat. HOWEVER the biggest advantages are found along the lines of ;

-1- avoiding pre-race hassle with crews jockying for a favourable rating by milking the known problem points
-2- general ease of use and ease of creating more fair rating numbers for distance races.
-3- transparancy of the system; leading to a higher acceptance of the system by the sailors

when the system becomes official its (internal) workings will be fully documented online and available to all. NO SECRECY, NO MAGICAL PROCEDURES leading to remarkable new ratings.

-4- Much improved rating handling and ease of chosing the right group and calculating corrected times by the RC.
-5- Much less work required to maintain the system.


Wouter